Contrast and Compare: 2019 BMW M2 Competition Priced

The 2019 BMW M2 Competition starts at $59,895 when it replaces the regular M2 this summer, but unlike most price hikes on European cars, the money is well spent.

It’s not as if the $4400 premium over the 2018 M2 goes to charity, although it does care for 40 additional horses needing more air to feed (and cool) their fury. The new model’s S55 twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six comes straight out of the M4, minus 20 ponies, for a total of 405 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. (Unlike the previous N55 engine’s single twin-scroll turbocharger, the S55 uses twin single-scroll turbochargers. Now say that five times fast.) The entire cooling system is yanked from the M4’s Competition package (which on the M4 costs $4750), along with its carbon-fiber strut-tower brace, side mirrors, seats with an illuminated backrest badge, and M Dynamic mode, which allows more wheelspin in Sport+ mode. Larger M Sport brakes hide behind new BBS-style wheels in either silver or a no-cost black. Glossy black trim covers the enlarged grille, outlines the glass, darkens the M2 badge on the decklid, and tints the exhaust tips, which promise a grittier, gnarlier sound.

Two new exterior colors, Sunset Orange and Hockenheim Silver, join the previous three as a $550 option (the only no-charge paint is Alpine White). Three more options remain the same: A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission ($2900), a glass sunroof ($1050), and the M Driver’s package ($2500), which pays for instruction at BMW’s M Driver’s Program in South Carolina or California and raises the car’s top speed from an electronically limited 155 mph to 174 mph (and that’s 6 mph faster than in 2018).

Pack in all the options and, at $68,095, the M2 Competition edges out the M3’s $67,495 starting price and rides perilously close to the M4’s $69,695. But when is the last time a dealer stocked either of those M cars without a single option? With extra paint and the Executive package, a manual M2 Competition runs a reasonable $61,645. Judging by the current M2 market, it should also hold its resale value as a low-volume (but not limited-production) M car in high demand. Production starts in July, with the first deliveries expected in August.